Rituals of Beginning

I started DEAD IF I DO yesterday. I didn't actually write any words on the page mind you, but I started. You scoff, "How can you say you started when you didn't write any story?"

There are a certain number of things I do as part of my rituals of beginning. First, I have to create a folder under my "novels" directory with the title of the new novel. Then I have to create a document with my novel template (which has all the necessaries already in place like using Courier 12 pt, having my contact information, space for the title, my byline, etc.) and then I make space for the first chapter and rename the thing.

Then I closed my computer and watched "Little Ms. Sunshine."

So, see! I started.

What do you _need_ to do in order to start? Do you have to buy that special notebook or special pen?

Wyrdsmith Writing Meme

Kellyover at Wyrdsmiths posted a meme about writing and I thought I'd play along...

What do you find _______ about writing?

Hardest? Lately, starting. But, after I get over that initial hurdle, the hardest part is usually keeping the plot moving forward. I have a tendency to like just hanging out with my characters soap opera style. Fun for me, but hell on the plot.

Easiest? Character. A lot of people live in my head many of them fully-formed. Getting them out is easy. Figuring out what to do with them is hard.

Most fun?

Honestly? Seeing my name in print. It's a rush.

Most Tedious? Some days, depending on my mood it's the writing down of all the scenes in my head. Slowing down my inner play long enough to write it all out and have it make sense to someone other than me.

Coolest? Knowing that I make s**t up and people pay me for it (sometimes).

Least cool? Some of the business aspects. I wish the publishing climate was such that there was a place for all good stories, regardless of "the market."

Best? When inspiration strikes and I look up from my keyboard and realize it's 2 a.m. and I feel so pumped like I could write more.

Worst? Realizing my kid will be up at 5:30 am....

Caveman Appeal

This is new from Yahoo News: Chick Magnets Look Like Cavemen -- which actually explains the popularity of time-travel romance.

To be fair, TT romance is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I really like the clash that happens when you combine a fiesty modern woman and a lunkheaded, knuckle-dragging alpha male from some backward society.

And, apparently, that's hardwired into my brain.

Oooooh, look! Pretty!

The Pumpkin That Ate St. Paul

This is a picture out of my second story window (facing our backyard). That's a pumpkin vine. This pumpkin has been slowly devouring our neighborhood. I found one tendril making its way into the yard of the neighbors to the south and another headed to the north. I curled both of those around back on themselves and now its headed for the roof. The cool thing is that this vine is sporting a pumpkin half way up the wall. That ought to be fun to harvest.

Too Much of A Good Thing

Here's a funny: My editor's comment after reading the revised manuscript of Romancing the Dead was that now there was too much sex.

Uh, is that even possible?

Writing Colorblind

As many of you know, I've had lots of rants here on this blog about this very thing: Why Writing Colorblind is Writing White (a rant) by Brutal Woman.

Her reaction is to something that John Scalzi said here.

Unlike Scazli, I intentionally identify my characters by race. In the AngeLINK books by my alternate personality I describe Jibril as a black African Muslim. Mouse is Arabic and Muslim, and he's brown enough that Rebeckah (an Israeli born American) misidentifies him as an Indian from India. Michael is an olive-skinned Mediterranean (his surname identifies him as Italian) and Ariel is Asian, though I never identify which specific country. I did this in my science fiction particularly because the future is so very often shown to be the purview of white people (specifically white males).

But more than that it seems unrealistic. Sure Americans and Europeans seem to dominate the political and economic landscape currently (at least from where I'm sitting), but that certainly wasn't always the case. And it only makes sense to me, particularly given the tendency, shall we say, for the U.S. to mismanage its economy, that some other ethnic/political/economic group could rise to a similar kind of dominance given the passage of time.

But those are the kinds of things you think about when you write SF. When it came time to write the Garnetverse books, I could have not bothered with race. The stories are all set in the pastoral (though not entirely rural) Mid-West, and a person could make the case that there just aren't a lot of people of color living in Wisconsin. Except, of course, that's a lie -- or at the very least a gross misrepresentation. Thus, I consciously identify Izzy as black.

I think that Brutal Woman is absolutely right when she says that when you don't overtly point out that someone is a person of color, the default in the majority of readers' minds = white. It's even a problem when you *do* it subtly, as I argue with Elizabeth Bear in the interview I did with her for the Internet Review of Science Fiction.*

Subtly doesn't get us anywhere. People like to say that race doesn't matter, but I think it does. I've admitted to "the default" when talking to Bear, and my partner and I have had long conversations how sometimes our "racial programming" will work pretty hard to ignore clues if they're too subtle. (She never imagined Poohka from Emma Bull's WAR FOR THE OAKS as black despite Bull's fairly overt, "He looked like Prince.")

I don't know what else to make of that except to say that this is just a really long-winded way of saying, "right on, sister" to Brutal Woman.

* You need to subscribe to Internet Review of Science Fiction to read this, but its free.

Wedding? I'd Rather Be With Rogers.

Wedding bells are in the air for Goddess-toting, now-immortal witch Garnet Lacey and her day-walking vampire lover Sebastian Von Traum. The caterers have been hired, flowers ordered, invitations sent, and Garnet is finally introducing Sebastian to her hippie, organic egg-ranching parents at Portabello’s, one of Madison, Wisconsin’s finer dining establishments. Of course, that’s when Téresa, the mother of Sebastian’s dhampyr son Mátyás, appears and ruins everything with her whole night-of-living-dead/raving-lunatic/he-was-mine-first shtick.

Sounds fun, right? Well, that's the beginning of the proposal for DEAD IF I DO (Book 4 in the Garnetverse), and I should be writing it RIGHT NOW. Instead, I've been diddling around reading comic books and dreaming about Captain America. (Makes you wonder though, doesn't it? Has someone done a superhero romance novel?)

I tell myself I'm allowed a little vacation. The revisions for ROMANCING THE DEAD kicked my butt into next week, so it's reasonable to want a little vegging time, right? Right? Thing is, I'm violating my own superstition, which is that I start writing the next book as soon as I get word from my agent that a deal has been struck. (Oh, if I haven't reported it, Berkley wants two more: DEAD IF I DO and HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD). I might just have to open up a Word Document tonight and do my initial formatting just to say I've started.

I dunno. I guess I'd rather be thinking about that dreamboat Steve Rogers....

When I Grow Up...

...I've decided I want to be Captain America.

Thing is, Steve Rogers? He's hot. When Mason starts school in September I plan to start hitting the gym in earnest. My plan is to have a body like Cap's by the time I'm forty-five. (Okay, yeah, minus the whole gender thing and the probably foot difference in our hieght.)

If you can't tell I've started reading comicbooks again. I blame Target, actually. When Mason and I were hanging out in the book section looking for new dot-to-dot books, I noticed that Marvel had what they were billing as "All-Ages" comicbooks. Mason instantly was attracted to the FANTASTIC FOUR. I was a big FF fan when I was a kid (and in those days, had you asked me, I would have said I wanted to grow up to be the Human Torch.) So, of course, I bought him all of the issues he wanted. While I was there, MY eye was drawn to Bendis' NEW AVENGERS.

It's been all downhill since then. I had to try to find the next collection of graphic novels after "Breakout" and have started branching out into other titles. I even picked up J. Michael Straczynski (of Babylon 5 fame) and Mike Deodato, Jr's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: New Avengers (Vol 10) and CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER and CAPTAIN AMERICA: RED MENACE by Ed Brubaker. Goddess only knows where this will end.

It's strange, actually, but this is the sort of thing my mind craves right now: High action, high romance (there's a lot more sex in adult comicbooks these days, I've noticed. Hello, Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin in Joss Whedon's X-MEN! Phasing during the big "o"? We didn't do that back in my day.) But, what I'm particularly enjoying as a returning fan is how the current batch of writers seem to be deeply familiar with the storylines I followed feverishly in my youth (okay, and young adulthood. I didn't give up on comics until sometime in college). I was really happy when in SPIDER-MAN Peter Parker makes a reference to the time he grew six extra arms. I remember that issue! As an adult I probably should think it was lame, but instead I find a kind of nostalgic guilty pleasure in reading that its acknowledged as having happened, you know? It's like the new writers are willing to accept Marvel history warts and all. As a long time fan, this makes me very, very happy. And it's eased my transition back. I don't feel out of it. I know this stuff.

Also, can I say? My tastes have changed. Now that I'm an adult, burdened, apparently by more responsibility, etc., I find myself attracted to characters I used to think were hopelessly square: Captain America, Spider-Man, (god help me) Iron Man. Though I still love Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, the comicbook version doesn't do it for me the same way any more (although Whedon's "I had a beer" cure made me quite happy).

It surprises me that romance readers haven't embraced comicbooks. There are some seriously studly guys parading around in skin-tight spandex, a**-kicking women, and romantic sub-plots -- no, let's be honest, soap operas -- that have spanned decades. It's kind of too bad that comicbooks have been branded "boy's" lit because the best storylines, IMHO, have always had the elements that readers of either gender can appreciate: heart and soul.

Feeling It

Cross-posted from Wyrdsmiths:

R. J. Anderson has really interesting post over at Fangs, Fur & Fey today. S/he talks about how she used to write sceens that would make her cry or be otherwise emotionally entangled with her characters, but now she doesn't. She worries that this lack of empathy will affect her writing. She ends the essay with this:

And yet I know I'm not alone in this, and I feel sure that powerful, emotionally resonant stories have been written by authors in much the same situation -- people who for one reason or another just couldn't do the Method Acting thing. Maybe because, like me, they have young children or other needy family members to look after; or maybe because their brains just aren't wired that way, and they find it more natural to cook up a story intellectually than live it vicariously.

I would like to hear from those authors. How do you make your stories and characters come alive -- and what gives you confidence that they are working -- when you aren't "feeling it" yourself?

Or, if you believe that identifying closely with your story is essential to good writing, what techniques or tricks do you use to submerge yourself in the narrative atmosphere when your environment is full of distractions?

If I think about this question seriously, I am forced to admit that I, too, have written both ways. I've had stories that grab me by the throat and force their way out, and stories that I've been able to tell with an intellectual distance with an eye more on craft. It's hard to say if the ones I wrote full of passion and verve are more "alive" than the others. I am, however, reminded of the interview my alternate personality did with Neil Gaiman for Science Fiction Chronicle where he talked about how some days he felt like the Muse moved through him and some days it was like squeezing blood from a turnip (obviously I'm paraphrasing, even on the fly, Gaiman has much better metaphors than I.) His point, however, was that when he went back and read the whole manuscript, he couldn't tell the difference between the days that hurt to write and the days that it was a joy. It all read the same and with the same "magic" or passion, if you will.

I think a lot of people miss opportunities to write because they feel like they have to be in the mood to write, or that this kind of empathy that Anderson worries about has to be present in order to craft "the good stuff." I'm with Gaiman on this one: write when you can, even when writing is hard. It's the only way to get stuff done. In the end, you won't know the difference and neither will the reader.

I do think, however, the writer has to be passionate about the story s/he is crafting. The stories that I can't finish are often ones that I, as an author, have stopped caring about. This is different than the question of empathy, though, I think. I can care about a story that I just don't want to write TODAY. And usually, if I push through today, I get get back in the swing of things TOMORROW. Sometimes, too, I find that if continue writing even when I *think* I don't care about the storyline, my mind will invent something about one of the characters or the situation that I can get fired up about again and the story is saved.

Local Folks!

If anyone would like to hear my alternate personality read, tomorrow night I'm going to be at the cafe for writers: Nina's Cafe. Here are the details:

On Thursday, August 16, 2007 starting at 7:20 pm, my alter ego will be reading from her work-in-progress "The Second Coming of Emily" at Nina's Coffee Cafe with Lucie B. Amundsen, who will read from three humor essays culled from the everyday drama of family life; Sharon Chmielarz, who will read poems from her latest two books, The Rhubarb King and The Other Mozart and possibly some newer poems; and Sherry Roberts, who will read from a work in progress about a dyslexic woman who fights a small town in North Carolina that is trying to ban books. Nina's Coffee Cafe is located at 165 Western Avenue North, Saint Paul, MN 55102. For more information or directions call: (651) 292-9816

When Literary Allusions Go Bad

My partner and I were headed back from our friends' cabin in Siren, Wisconsin, when we had to make a pit stop at one of the many gas stations along 35. It just so happened that a whole slue of women all had the same idea, so I found myself standing in line. Next to the women's was a cork board full of people's business cards and advertisements and notices about lost dogs and cleaning services. My eyes wandered the list and came across this:

Needful Things: Antiques & Designs/Interior Design Consulting

And I thought to myself: Seriously? Has Ms. Andrea Aydt (proprietor) never read any Stephen King? Doesn't she know that everyone who shops at Needful Things dies a horrific death? Does she really mean to evoke that particular sensibility?

I just thought it was a strange choice on her part.

What's the worst book title you would name a store?

Also, next time we go up, I'm going to bring along our digital camera to capture some of the more amazing church billboard signs. There were some seriously funny (unintentionally so, I think,) ones this time. Of course, now I can't remember a word of them.

Amazon Obsession

The New York Times has an article about how authors obsessively check their Amazon.com sales rankings: The Highs and Lows of Rankings on Amazon.

I, of course, have NO IDEA what they're talking about.

Fairy Queens and Vampire Lords

Over at Fangs, Fur & Fey Jill Myles asked the question: What's the fantasy element that makes you steer away from what might otherwise be an excellent book?

My answer?

Fairies.

It's not that I object to books about faeries. I've read (and even written, though not published) books I've loved that center around the land of fey/fairy queens, etc. What I can't stand is when I'm reading an otherwise perfectly good vampire/urban fantasy book and some character introduces themselves as half-fairy or something similar. I can't explain it, but, for whatever reason, that makes my suspenders of disbelief go "BOOOOIIIINNGGG!" and, more often than not, snap completely.

What about you? What's your answer to Jill's question?

Locus Reviews

I couldn't wait for my subscription to come, so I picked up a copy of Locus at Dreamhaven yesterday. Here are the reviews by Carolyn Cushman:

Tate Hallaway, Dead Sexy (Berkley 978-0-425-21508-1, $14.00, 294pp tp) May 2007. Cover by Margarete Gockel

Murder comes back to haunt Garnet Lacey in this sequel to Tall, Dark & Dead. Garnet first went on the run after Vatican witch hunters killed her coven and the goddess Lilith possessed her and killed the Vatican agents. Now the bodies have been uncovered, and the FBI is on Garnet's trail, so she's forced to turn to her vampire ex-boyfriend for help, while trying to keep her current boyfriend, the vampire alchemist Sebastian, from finding out, not to mention trying to keep Lilith from reappearing and wreaking havoc. And then there are al those zombies turning up around town... Garnet's an engaging narrator, and while the plot occasionally seems a bit over the tope, it's also a consistantly fun, fast-paced romp.

Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner, eds., Many Bloody Returns (Ace 978-0-441-01522-1, $24.95, 355pp, hc) September 2007. Cover by Lisa Desimini.

What do birthdays mean to vampires? Thirteen authors come up with as many answers in this amusing original anthology, which tends to the lighter side of vampire fiction, with birthdays frequently tangential to the stories at best. Several stories are part of popular series; among the best are Jim Butcher's Dresden File story, "It's My Birthday, Too," in which Harry Dresden tries to get a birthday present to his vampire half-brother, only to run into some live-action roleplayers facing real vampires in an after-hours shopping mall; P. N. Elrod's lively Vampire Files story, "Grave Robbed," finds PI vampire Jack Fleming taking on a phony medium; in Tanya Huff's Smoke series, "Blood Wrapped" sets Tony and Henry searching for a kidnapped child and for an appropriate gift for Vicki Nelson's 40th birthday; and Tate Hallaway's "Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two" finds wiccan Garnet Lacey (of Tall, Dark & Dead and Dead Sexy) trying to convince her vampire boyfriend that his birthday isn't cursed, despite some chilling encounters. Charlaine Harris's own entry, "Dracula Night," is amusing but slight, a Sookie Stackhouse story that finds the human telepath fortunately on hand when things go wrong during the vampires' celebration of Dracula's birthday. Co-editor Toni L. P. Kelner, a mystery writer, presents a punchy, but touching, tale of a vampire who catches a serial killer while on a nostalgia trip to her own home town in "How Stella Got Her Grave Back." The remaining stories are a mixed bunch, mostly standalones, and some less than satisfying -- possibly because they don't have well-developed series backgrounds to draw on. For fans of the series represented here, however, this is an entertaining birthday party well worth checking out.

My Spaced Out

I decided to try to be one of the cool kids and put together the rudimentary bits necessary to have a my space page. If this sort of thing trips your trigger, go check it out at:

http://www.myspace.com/tatehallaway

Now, I expect I'll be up half the night "friending" people and whatnot. :-)

Revisions Done and New Book Deals!

Exciting news first: my agent just made a deal with my publisher for TWO -- that's right, count 'em, two -- more books in the Garnetverse! Book number four is tentitively titled Dead If I Do (thanks to Plaid Adder for the title suggestion) to come out in 2009, and book five will be Honeymoon of the Dead for 2010.

Whoot!

My 2008 book will be Romancing the Dead, and I'm also happy to report that I sent away the ginormous package containing two paper copies of the revised manuscript yesterday. After much wrestling, I'm actually quite pleased with the final version of Romancing, too. Huzzah!

Toni Kelner sent this along to the contributors of Many Bloody Returns:

First off is Harriet Klausner's review, which is on B&N.com and elsewhere on the web (http://www.alternative-worlds.com/2007/07/26/many-bloody-returns/):

Many Bloody Returns
Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner (Editors)
Ace, Sep 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 97804419015221

These thirteen new vampire tales focus on the theme of birthdays (and many happy returns). Although the theme is incredibly narrow and restrictive, the contributors provide fresh interesting tales with no losers and star some of the more famous series characters; this the collection serves as a great introduction (albeit limited) to heroes of the supernatural. The most innovative entry is “Twilight” by Kelley Armstrong in which she insists a vampire’s birthday is the day they convert as that is a rebirthing. The rest of the stories make for a fun compilation with the lively authors being superstars in the undead realm such as Jim Butcher (with Harry), P.N. Elrod (with Fleming), and Charlaine Harris (with Sookie), etc. Still singing happy birthday thirteen times even too many series favorites can become a bit long in the tooth and difficult to blow out the zillion candles for some of the recipients; this reviewer suggests leisurely enjoying the anthology over a few weeks.

Harriet Klausner

Then we've got this one from Romantic Times BOOKreviews

MANY BLOODY RETURNS
4 1/2 stars (Out of 4 stars, which makes this "FANTASTIC--Keeper")

In this highly readable and memorable anthology, 13 top fantasy writers tackle the subject of vampires and birthdays. This is a must-buy book for genre fans, and a fantastic introduction for new readers to some of the best-known writers in the field, including Harris, Jim Butcher, Tanya Huff, Kelley Armstrong, and P.N. Elrod.

SUMMARY: Thirteen authors have 13 very different takes on birthdays and vampires. Highlights include Harris' "Dracula Night," in which Sookie Stackhouse finds herself the only human in attendance at Dracula's birthday party; Elrod's Jack Flming striking a blow for honest mediums everywhere in "Grave-Robbed,; and Butcher's "It's My Birthday Too," where Harry Dresden finds himself in a sururban mall with a bunch of live-action role players and a few vampires out for revenge--and blood.

Natalie A. Luhrs

And from a web site reviewer I've never heard of (http://darquereviews.blogspot.com/2007/08/many-bloody-returns-anthology.html), but now revere because she liked the book:

Many Bloody Returns (Anthology)
Tales of Birthdays with Bite
Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
ACE – The Berkley Publishing Group
September 4, 2007
ISBN# 978-0-441-01522-1

Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris shares a tense night at Fangtasia as Sookie Stackhouse and her supernatural friends celebrate with a birthday bash for Dracula.

The Mournful Cry of Owls by Christopher Golden is Donika’s sixteenth birthday and a night for revealing a past secret that leads to a surprising future.

I Was a Teenage Vampire by Bill Crider tells the tale of how Carlton’s young life changed the night of his sister’s birthday party.

Twilight by Kelley Armstrong takes Cassandra DuCharme on the yearly hunt she needs to extend her vampiric life.

It’s My Birthday Too by Jim Butcher follows Harry Dresden and his assistant to deliver a birthday present when things turn dark and dangerous.

Grave Robbed by P. N. Elrod has PI Jack Flemming intervening when a woman is desperate to contact her deceased husband and the séance appears to be a con.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life by Rachel Caine is Eve’s eighteenth birthday in Morganville, and the night she’s expected to sign away her future.

The Witch and the Wicked by Jeanne C. Stein brings Sophie to the Deveraux home where she caters a vampire’s birthday filled with surprises.

Blood Wrapped by Tanya Huff has Henry on the hunt for Vicki’s birthday present when he’s influenced to do a good deed.

The Wish by Carolyn Haines shares Sandra’s forty-third birthday and the painful tale that leads her to live and die on her own terms.

Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two by Tate Hallaway celebrates Sebastian’s birthday with more surprises than Garnet had planned for the evening.

Vampire Hours by Elaine Viets is Katherine’s birthday to face the reality of her current life and make the decision to have the future she dreams of.

How Stella Got Her Grave Back by Toni L. P. Kelner travels along with Stella and Mark as they set out to solve the mystery of a Jane Doe.

Many Bloody Returns is a carefully crafted anthology that envelopes readers in the dark and often humorous world of the paranormal. A fabulously fun visit with the characters, both old and new, of some of the best paranormal fiction authors in print today.

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews

LOCUS Bestseller!

My agent just informed me that Dead Sexy is the Locus List #4 bestseller in the trade paperback catagory. Whoot!

Carolyn Cushman at Locus also did a review of both Dead Sexy and Many Bloody Returns (and, apparently, *GASP* she mentions my story!!) Those aren't available on-line, however, so I'll have to wait impatiently at my mailbox to see what she says.

Two New Reviews

First, my relatives in Indiana sent me a copy of a review from the Indiana Post-Tribune for Dead Sexy by Scheffie Sarver. It's HUGE. The nicest thing Sarver said might be this: "One of Hallaway's strengths is the way she weaves Garnet's tale. Garnet is human enough for the reader to sympathize with, but her circumstances are outrageous enough to give the reader a good chuckle. In one scene, hungry zombies chase Garnet into the confines of a garage. She vows to go on a diet when her hips get stuck in a window frame as she's escaping. We've all similarly vowed to start dieting, just perhaps not with a pack of zombies hot on our heels."

Second, Paula Chaffee Scardamalia reviewed Tall, Dark & Dead for BroadUniverse's BroadSheet. You can read it here: http://www.broaduniverse.org/broadsheet/0707pcsth.html

Okay

In case anyone is seeing the news about the collapsed bridge in Minneapolis, we're okay. If there are other Minneapolis/St. Paul SF/F writers or fans you're worried about, there's a check-in set up here:

http://community.livejournal.com/mnstf/

If anyone thinks someone might be worried about them, they are encouraged to post an OK with Mnstf. Oh, and if you don't have an LJ account the person managing the site has kindly offered her email address laurel@tvpicks.net for check-ins.